Canada will have vaccine booster supply if NACI recommends wider usage: PM

OTTAWA —
As the federal government awaits new advice on prioritizing COVID-19 booster shots in light of concerns over the Omicron variant, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that should the call come to expand access, the supply will be there.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that the federal government has asked the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) to quickly provide an update on its directives on the use of COVID-19 vaccine boosters in light of the new variant of concern.

Trudeau told reporters Wednesday morning on his way into a caucus meeting that should NACI recommend expanding eligibility for a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines, the supply will be there.

“There is not an issue about quantity of vaccines. We have lots of vaccines for boosters in Canada, we’re receiving more into the new year. We are fine in terms of quantity, the issue is what is the best recommendation for people to get those boosters and when,” Trudeau said.

It remains unclear just how transmissible and severe infection by the variant B.1.1.529 might be, but because Omicron is highly mutated health officials have expressed concerns that it may be more vaccine resistant.

Health Canada has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines as boosters for anyone 18 and older, at least six months after the primary vaccine course.

As things stand, NACI’s booster guidance states that provinces should be offering boosters to anyone aged 70 and up; those who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine; certain immunocompromised individuals; and adults in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

Front-line health-care workers who have direct in-person contact with patients and who were originally vaccinated within a short time interval are also recommended for boosters.

Provinces and territories, which are responsible for vaccine programs, have adopted their own booster rollout plans based on this guidance.

The discussion over whether or not Canada should be offering third doses to healthy adults is playing out alongside suggestions that the government should be prioritizing sending doses to other nations who do not have the kind of access that Canada does, to potentially help prevent further mutations of the virus that has now been circulating the world for nearly two years.